Serena Williams, Carlos Alcaraz Get Wild Card Into US Open Mixed Doubles Tournament in Return

Serena Williams is returning to the U.S. Open for the first time since 2022 as part of a marquee mixed doubles pair with Carlos Alcaraz.

The U.S. Open announced on Saturday that Williams and Alcaraz received one of the open wild-card entries to play mixed doubles starting Tuesday.

Williams was always careful to never use the word "retire" to explain her playing status. She did write in the August 2022 edition of Vogue, ahead of the U.S. Open, that she would be "evolving away from tennis" to focus on "other things that are important to me."

The 2022 U.S. Open had been the final tournament of Williams' career before playing doubles at the HSBC Championships in June. She has played in four tournaments primarily in doubles competition.

Williams' lone singles match since returning the court was at Wimbledon when she lost to Maya Joint in the first round. Her most recent appearance was on Monday in doubles action with her sister, Venus Williams, at the Cincinnati Open. They lost in three sets to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.

Alcaraz is also making his return to the court at the U.S. Open after a four-month absence due to a wrist injury. He announced on Thursday his participation in the final Grand Slam event of the year after missing the French Open and Wimbledon.

Since the mixed doubles tournament takes place before the singles competition, it allows Alcaraz the chance to get some playing time under his belt coming off a long layoff.

This will be Alcaraz's first time playing doubles since September 2025 when he was paired with Jakub Mensik in the Laver Cup.

The mixed doubles tournament will be played on Aug. 25 and 26.